


Peril of the Old Forest

by lilacsigil



Category: Long Live the Queen (Video Game)
Genre: Adventure, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-05 13:12:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3121439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilacsigil/pseuds/lilacsigil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Briony has a crazy plan to fight the monsters of the Old Forest and win the treasure of the Old Palace. Despite her misgivings, Elodie is drawn in and Charlotte along with her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Peril of the Old Forest

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Measured](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Measured/gifts).



> Thanks to st_aurafina for the beta. Some dialogue is taken directly from the game.

Elodie was having a great time at Gwenelle's investiture party, seeing all her friends. She hadn't expected the emotional ambush by Gwenelle and her mother the moment she arrived, but they both seemed mollified by her diplomatic response, at least. Other nobles were avoiding Countess Nix now that she was Elodie's Lumen minister, which was frustrating, but Elodie really did feel a lot safer with her in that position: there hadn't been an assassination attempt since, despite the long and dangerous trip to Sudbury for the party. Having an newly declared Lumen in her court must be freaking out all the plotters – they might have the Duchess of Ursul's measure, but not the Countess's!

Charlotte, on the other hand, didn't seem to care that people were snubbing her mother. She was the only girl around Elodie's age who didn't go to school, and she was making the most of this rare social opportunity. She'd already hugged Elodie and promised that after the coronation they'd get together and talk about magic. 

Elodie spotted Briony lurking about near a tall vase of flowers. She didn't blame Briony for hiding out – Briony's parents were both present but ostentatiously not talking to each other. Poor Briony obviously didn't want to get caught in the middle of that. It was strange to see her all trussed up in a stiff gown looking like she wanted to melt into the wall: normally she was a tall, strong girl with a loud voice who liked nothing better than riding horses and swinging a sword. Most of the time she wore riding breeches rather than dresses.

She brightened at Elodie's approach. "Hello, Elodie. It's so wonderful that you're going to be Queen now. I mean, I am sorry about your mother…"

"Thanks."

"…but think of the opportunities you're going to have! You're so lucky."

Elodie just stared at her. What a strange thing to say!

Briony continued unabated. "Anyway, I was wondering, now that you're almost Queen and everything, have they told you all the secrets?"

"What secrets?"

"Like, how to get into the old palace! I hear it's packed full of treasure."

Elodie thought back on her lessons with Priestess Selene in the magical lore of Nova. "You mean the Old Capital by Kathre Lake? The abandoned one?"

"Exactly! They had to leave in a hurry so they left all kinds of treasure behind. And nobody ever goes there because the forest is supposed to be haunted, so the treasure's probably still there!"

Elodie stared at her. It was an absolutely insane idea – hadn't she heard about the keythong already roaming the area killing luckless commoners? If a single forest monster could cause so much harm, imagine what a whole forest full of them could do! She was about to object, but then she saw Briony's face. It was full of life and excitement, the complete opposite of the sad, anxious girl of a few minutes before. Elodie couldn't crush that spirit. Maybe if Briony learned more about the monsters she'd realise how impossible her plan was?

Elodie put a hand on Briony's arm and lowered her voice. "I don't know any secrets about getting into the old palace – yet. But if you come back to the castle with me, we can check the archives."

"Great! I knew you could help! I'm supposed to go back to school but I was already planning to sneak off. I'll ditch my escort and meet you at the castle!" Briony threw her arms around Elodie, nearly knocking her glass of elderflower cordial to the ground, and squeezed her tightly. 

Elodie sighed. It was wonderful to see Briony so much brighter, but she'd forgotten how difficult she was to be around, let alone to persuade. Then she had a bright idea.

"Aunt Lucille," she asked her Lumen Minister, making clear that this was a family request, not a royal one, "Would it be possible for Charlotte to come back to the castle with us? You'll be there to take care of her, and it will be so nice to spend more time with her."

She started with a shake of her head, "Oh, Elodie, you know it's not very safe at your castle…" but then tailed off as she glanced around the assembled nobles, almost all of whom had blatantly scorned her at some stage of the evening.

"She'd be safer with you than anywhere else." Elodie tried to give her a little push in the right direction. 

Lucille slowly nodded. "I think you might be right, Elodie. I'll bring Charlotte along, but when I go back to Merva in a few weeks, she will come home with me."

"Of course! Thank you, Aunt Lucille!" Elodie was thrilled. It would be much easier to work on Briony with Charlotte to back her up: Charlotte was a genuinely sweet and easy-going person, unlike her mother, but if she got her back up it was very difficult to change her mind on anything. Briony wouldn't know that, as Charlotte had never been to school and they'd only met briefly; Elodie, of course, had spent much more time with her cousin. 

It felt much safer travelling in a convoy of carriages, even if the threatened bandit attacks hadn't eventuated on Elodie's journey to Sudbury, but they all split off one by one, until only the royal coach, the coach with the Merva coat-of-arms and all the guards remained. Briony had obediently climbed into the smaller Mead carriage to take her back to school, but her wink at Elodie as she did so reminded Elodie that she soon would be coming to the castle. 

Late in the afternoon, Elodie and Charlotte eventually persuaded Charlotte's mother to let the two of them ride together, rather than Elodie in her own carriage and Charlotte with her mother. 

"All right, but you have to stay in the Merva carriage," she told them. "You know Charlotte is second-in-line to the throne, Elodie, and I don't want anyone to be tempted to take out two threats with one stone."

"Oh, Mummy, don't worry, we'll be fine. I promise to scream if there's any milk vipers," Charlotte told her. Her mother frowned at her, but alighted from the carriage and swapped over with Elodie. 

"Don't remind her!" Elodie snapped. Shortly after Elodie had returned from school to start her training to be Queen, someone had released a milk viper in the gardens of the castle. It had bitten Elodie on the leg: Charlotte had healed it with her mysterious magical talent, but Charlotte's mother had freaked out anyway and immediately taken her home. She wouldn't want to know that Elodie and Charlotte were talking about monsters!

"Charlotte, I actually have an ulterior motive asking you to the castle."

Charlotte giggled. "You're sounding very royal!"

"Well, I hope so! Anyway, Briony is going to sneak off from school and come to the castle to check out the archives."

"Why? Does she like history?"

It was Elodie's turn to giggle. Briony had no love of reading and had been known to bribe other students to do her homework for her. "No, it's because she wants to go to the old palace at Kathre Lake."

"Isn't that in the Old Forest?" Charlotte said slowly.

"Yes, that's why she wants to read about it first. There's supposed to be lots of weird monsters."

"She can't go into the Old Forest! She'll die!"

"That's why I wanted you here! I agree with you! But she was so unhappy at Gwenelle's party and she's been writing me letters for weeks saying how bored and unhappy she is."

Charlotte's eyes were wide. "Yes, but you can't let her run off into a forest full of dangerous magical creatures! I mean, no-one goes into that forest, and for good reason."

"I know! I just thought…maybe if she had something to occupy her, and some friends, she might be less unhappy. And you can help me persuade her not to go."

"Oh, that's a relief! I thought you were going to make me go, too."

"No, I don't think anyone should go!" This was not entirely true, but Elodie didn't want Charlotte to be upset. She'd been thinking about Briony's promise of treasure and the state of her own dwindling treasury ever since they spoke. At the very least, that keythong that was roaming outside the forest should be contained. Elodie's magical powers were the perfect way to do it! Still, it was dangerous and surely it would be better if no-one went. 

Briony took a few days longer to make it to the castle than Elodie did, which was not surprising, since she had to go nearly all the way back to school before ditching her escort and taking the northern road through Merva to the capital. Elodie and Charlotte had plenty to occupy them in any case – in fact, Elodie had an even tougher schedule due to the days spent travelling to Sudbury – and the time sped past. It wasn't until the end of the week that Briony arrived, riding her enormous grey horse Latimer. Elodie had thought that she would be in disguise, but she was entirely open about her identity.

"Hello, Briony!" Elodie had herself just come in from a riding lesson. "Aren't you going to get into terrible trouble once your parents know you're here?"

Briony waved a careless hand. "I doubt they'll even notice. I thought trying to be sneaky might attract more attention than me visiting my friend, considering all the guards Countess Nix has around the place."

"Well, it's true that since I made her my Lumen Minister things have been much calmer. She must know what she's doing."

"I guess. Anyway, let's have something to eat then get into those archives!"

Elodie took her down to the kitchens and left her in Alice's capable hands. "I'm sorry, I have to go to my military strategy class this afternoon, but Alice can take you anywhere you need to go."

"Yes, my lady," Alice said with a curtsey. 

"Come down to the library after dinner then! Thanks, Elodie, you're the best!" 

Elodie was dubious about that, but hurried up to her chambers for her own lunch. She didn't have much time before her next tutor arrived. Charlotte was no less busy – she'd been training with Priestess Selene in the healing arts every day. Elodie had rather hoped that Charlotte would see the same tutors as she did, since the classes would be much more fun with two, but Charlotte had been so thrilled at the opportunity to learn from an actual Lumen healer that Elodie hadn't had the heart to ask her to come to her own classes instead.

Charlotte and Elodie were seated next to each other at dinner, and Elodie took the opportunity to whisper to Charlotte.

"Briony's here! We're going to meet up in the library after dinner."

"And then we'll help her!" Charlotte replied. 

"I want to see what her plan is, first."

After the interminable dinner was over, the girls quickly changed out of their dinner gowns, with Alice's help. 

"How was Briony?" Elodie asked her.

"She was very excited to be in the archives, my lady. We went out once to check on her horse, but apart from that I've been fetching scrolls and books and she has been reading all afternoon."

Elodie frowned. That didn't sound like Briony at all: she must be really set on this adventure!

Alice escorted them to the library, and left them there. It wasn't a big library, not compared to some of the temples, but it had a collection on Novan history that was unmatched throughout the world. King Latimer – the very same as Briony's horse's namesake – had decreed that it was the King or Queen's task to collect the story of their own country. After the old palace fell, more recent rulers had followed in his footsteps, rebuilding whatever they could of the old collection. 

Briony was seated at a long table, surrounded by open books and unrolled scrolls. 

"Hi, Elodie! Hi, Charlotte! I've found so much information already. Did you have any luck before I got here?"

Elodie pointed to a small stack of scrolls at the end of the table. "I found a bunch of maps of the area around Kathre Lake."

"Great!" 

Elodie continued. "I also found reports on all sorts of really nasty monsters down there."

"That was hundreds of years ago!"

Charlotte shook her head. "The palace was abandoned hundreds of years ago. The reports never stopped. I've been reading about it too, and I can't find anyone who's gone into the Old Forest and come back."

"Well, if it is full of treasure, would you want to tell anyone how you got in and stole some?" Briony looked triumphant. 

"No, I don't think that's the problem…" Charlotte said. 

Briony stood up. "Look, I know it's dangerous, I'm not stupid. But we're educated noblewomen, not peasants. I'm good with a sword and bow. And you – don't you have magic powers now that you're Queen?"

"Well, yes." Elodie couldn't deny it, not with all the hard work she had done to have a Lumen Minister and turn around people's ideas about Lumens. 

"So come with me! It'll be an awesome adventure! Our parents will be so impressed!"

"I don't think mine will be." Charlotte shook her head.

Elodie, however, was wavering, thinking of her almost-empty treasury. "What kinds of treasure?"

Briony pulled an iron-bound book off the table, needing both arms to lift it. "Here. This contains the last known inventory of the old palace." 

Elodie looked through the pages. Any single page detailed more value than the entirety of the contents of Elodie's own treasury. 

"Oh, don't be silly!" Charlotte put her hand over the page Elodie was reading. "When you're the Queen you can send a whole army into the forest. My mother and Duchess Ursul can go with you, and any other Lumens who have come forth by then. There's no need for us to go alone."

Elodie was open-mouthed in surprise, not at Charlotte's words, but at where her hand had, by chance, landed. "Look, Charlotte. Look!"

Charlotte, startled, looked where Elodie was pointing, to see that the page she was holding open was the very one that listed the Lumen crystals of the Duchy of Merva. "But…these are my ancestors!"

"If your mother's claims have any truth, yeah, they are." Briony had come around to stare at Charlotte, too. "There's seven dormant crystals listed here. Seven!"

Elodie took Charlotte by the arms. "Do you know what this means?"

Charlotte nodded, tears in her eyes. "My mother doesn't have to die for me to be a Lumen."

"It's an omen!" Briony declared, and Elodie couldn't help but agree.

"All right, we can take horses from the royal stables and sneak out before anyone notices."

They spent the rest of the evening reading about the monsters, but Elodie grew more and more confident that they would be vulnerable to her Lumen magic. The few reports that Charlotte had found from people who ventured into the forest – not to the palace, just at the edges – all mentioned seeing scary things and running away as fast as possible. Not one of them had stayed to fight. 

Not one who had survived, Elodie started to think, but firmly squashed that thought. This adventure was going to bring them acclaim for Briony, treasure for Elodie and a Lumen crystal for Charlotte. They would show the entire kingdom that they need not be afraid of the shadows of the past!

As dawn light crept over the castle wall, Elodie and Charlotte sneaked out of their bedrooms and down to the stables. Briony was already waiting, three horses saddled and gear and provisions packed. Elodie and Charlotte had both brought some money to buy more along the way if needed, but the closer they came to the Old Forest, the fewer villages there would be. 

Briony looked every inch the hero, in tall boots, fine leather breeches and a bright tunic with the Mead crest, sword at her hip. Elodie was proud that it was her that Briony had approached for help, and even prouder that she had worked so hard on her magical skills and would be able to stand at Briony's side and fight. They mounted up – Elodie on her usual mare, Glimmer, and Charlotte on a quiet older gelding, Wintergreen. Charlotte had the least riding experience of the three, thanks to her over-protective mother, but Wintergreen would happily follow the other horses and give Charlotte as smooth a ride as possible. 

The guards saw nothing odd about the Crown Princess and her friends going for an early ride, and opened the small portcullis for them without a quibble. They rode through the city, clattering on the cobbles and startling merchants about their early morning business, stopping only to buy fresh yolk buns for breakfast. Along with half-a-dozen others, they boarded the barge to cross over to Caloris – a scary situation for a horse, but Latimer had iron discipline and the other two were castle-dwellers and long used to the barge – and stepped onto the southern bank of the river. 

Until the moment their horses set foot on solid ground, Elodie had been half-expecting someone to call them back, but no-one did. This was all up to the three of them. She looked over her shoulder, back to the castle high on the hilltop above the city. 

Briony punched her lightly on the arm. "Homesick already, Princess?"

"No! Just looking for signs of pursuit!" Elodie replied indignantly, and moved Glimmer into a brisk trot. They would want to cover some good distance this morning so that they weren't brought straight back, but the road was too busy for them to gallop. 

"Don't worry," Briony said, "This is the main road from the capital to Caloriston. As soon as we reach the wetlands we'll turn south-east and the road will be more open."

"Because people keep being eaten," Charlotte added gloomily, but the other two ignored her. 

The weather was fine, and they rode down the main road in the warm sun. People who recognised Elodie bowed deeply – her father, as well as being the King Dowager, was also the Duke of Caloris and much loved – though just as many people didn't pay any attention to who was passing them on the road. It was going to be easy for Elodie's father to track them. Then again, the royal guard wasn't going to be able to move much faster than they had, and they did have a substantial lead. 

They stopped around noon for a break. Briony and Elodie were fine, but Charlotte was quite stiff and sore after an entire morning riding. 

"Ooh, I wish my mother had let me keep up riding once I outgrew my pony," she said, trying to stretch out the aches. "She said it was too dangerous."

"Your mother thinks everything is too dangerous," Elodie grumped.

Briony tossed her hair. "Better than mine who doesn't care what I do."

"I'm sure she does care," Charlotte said, but she sounded uncertain.

"Even you don't believe that." Briony let the horses drink from one of the thousands of roadside troughs that had been installed in memory of Elodie's great-grandfather, a champion rider. His cheerful, whiskery face was still seen all over the country, thanks to his great bequest to help travellers and their thirsty animals. Elodie had been quite surprised, when she saw a portrait of him, that he was not covered in algae and moss as he was on the horse troughs. The whiskers were absolutely perfect, though. 

They shared a cold ham and pea pie for lunch, with an apple for afterwards, before saddling up again. Charlotte had at least had a little break now, but she was going to be very stiff tonight. 

"Briony, do inns have baths?" Elodie asked. She'd never been to one herself.

"The nicer ones do."

"Do you think we could stay at one of those tonight? Charlotte will feel much better if she has a hot bath."

"That sounds lovely!" Charlotte chipped in.

"I was going to camp out!" Briony protested. "But I guess we can go to an inn if it means we'll be fresher in the morning. If we make a good pace off the main road we could reach the Old Forest by tomorrow afternoon."

"Great!" Elodie said, but Charlotte just hung on to her reins, her face glum.

The main road split off in the late afternoon, the wider road continuing on to Caloriston and the narrower track not signposted. 

"Don't worry," Briony told them. "It's still a long way to the Old Forest. There's at least two more towns along the way in the wetlands. We can get up some more speed now."

"Aren't the wetlands difficult for horses?" Charlotte asked.

"They would be, that's why we're staying on the road. The worst we'll see this time of year is a little bit of mud, as long as we stay on the path."

Elodie thought about the keythong, but decided not to mention it in front of Charlotte. She looked scared enough already. Besides, if it had come out of the forest it must have taken people close by, not a day's ride away. 

The afternoon was entirely peaceful: they met a few travellers, mostly farmers in carts returning from market, but they could travel at a better pace than on the busy main road. The wetlands were very flat, so it was easy enough to see anyone approaching. Nobody here seemed to recognise Elodie, but they were more close-mouthed in general, their clothes and carts of poorer quality than the merchants on the main road. 

"It must be difficult farming here when it floods every year," Charlotte said sympathetically.

"No, that's why they grow rice here," Elodie told her, having been made to study the different domains of her kingdom. "It likes soggy ground."

"Oh!" Charlotte was surprised. "In Merva we don't farm close to the river because when it floods, it moves so fast that it carries away all the soil, let alone anything else there. I suppose a wetland is much gentler."

"And stinkier." Briony wrinkled her nose. "What is that stench?"

Elodie could smell it too, now. It was a terrible smell, like blood and rotten fruit both at once, with something sour and old underneath. "I think it's coming from over there." She pointed off to the right. "Briony, is it safe to walk there? Are we going to end up in a sinkhole?"

Briony jumped off her horse. "Not this far north and not in summer." She drew her sword and marched off in the direction of the strange smell. 

"Is she going to fight the smell now?" Charlotte muttered, but she slid off her horse, too, and so did Elodie. 

"Stay with the horses," Elodie told Charlotte. "I don't want them to get startled and run away. They'll feel safer with a person to look after them."

"No problem!" Charlotte gathered up the reins, much to the annoyance of Latimer who had started to graze at the roadside. He was a patient horse, though, and let Charlotte hold him still. 

Elodie brought up her magical shields, and followed Briony. The closer she got, the more she felt that weird sensation between her shoulderblades that meant she was in the presence of magic.

"Be careful, Briony!" she called out. "There's magic here!"

Briony, unexpectedly, stopped and waited for Elodie to catch up. "That's your department. Do you know what kind of magic?"

Elodie concentrated. "Well, it's more of a strong trace. Whatever magical thing happened, it's done now. But all magic leaves a trace – the stronger the magic, the stronger the trace."

"Is this strong magic?" Briony asked, excited.

"It's hard to tell – it could be weak magic performed just today, or it could be strong magic performed a hundred years ago." Elodie concentrated, but she couldn't quite catch it. Maybe she should have practised her Lumen skills a little more this week instead of the military strategy her father wanted her to study. There just wasn't enough time for everything!

The two girls crept closer to where the terrible smell was arising. The reedy marsh grass was hiding whatever it was, but there didn't seem to be any movement, as there would be if, say, a keythong was hiding in the long grass. Then again, Elodie wasn't entirely sure what a magical beast might do. She opened her mouth to warn Briony, but at that moment Briony pushed forward and parted the grass with her sword.

"It's a dead guy!" she called out. "He's really mangled. It looks like a wild animal got him."

Elodie covered her mouth and nose with her sleeve and peered through the gap in the grass. Briony's description was right: the remains of a man lay in the grass, and he had been horribly mutilated. Elodie had once seen a man brought in dead from a hunt, gored by a wild boar. But that was nothing compared to this man. He must have been dead no more than a day, because he had not yet started to decay, but no insects buzzed around his body. His guts had been ripped open and partially eaten, and his bloodied head lay at a strange angle. Worse, though, one of his legs had been crushed and the bone broken as if it had been caught in a bear trap, though there were no bears here to trap. Everywhere that his killer had touched him glowed faintly, a sickly green aura, and that's where the magic was strongest. 

"What kind of animal could have done this?" Briony asked. "Was it something from the Old Forest?"

"It must have been. No regular animal would leave wounds glowing like that."

"Glowing? I guess that's your magic skills. I can't see anything like that. He just looks like a ripped up corpse to me. Ripped up by something really, really big."

"Yes, no regular animal would crush his leg like that." Now that Elodie could see where the stench was coming from, it was somehow more bearable. Also it helped that Briony was there, warm and alive.

The dead man looked to be about her father's age, though with tanned skin and lighter hair. Maybe he had a daughter somewhere, worrying about why he hadn't come home. 

"Well, maybe a bear, but there's no bears living here," Briony said, doubtfully. 

"My father said that a keythong was killing people in southern Caloris, near the forest. It's a giant cat with spikes on it, and a sharp beak," Elodie explained at Briony's blank look.

"Oh yeah, I saw a picture of one on the maps of the old palace. Looks scary, but this is a long way from the forest."

"Are you all right?" Charlotte called out from the road.

"Yes! There's a dead man here!"

"We should mark the spot and tell someone at the next town," Elodie said. "They'll probably be worried about him."

"Yeah." Briony sounded a lot less excited than she had before. She bent down and took the man's hand in hers, and slid a leather bracelet from his wrist over his hand. "They might recognise this."

"Good plan," Elodie said, and took another good look at the magic covering the man's wounds so that she would easily recognise it again. 

They walked back to the road where Charlotte had collected stones and made an arrow pointing in the direction of the man's body. 

"Was it very horrible?" she asked.

"Yes, he was ripped apart," Briony said, at the same time as Elodie said,

"No, it was just sad."

They mounted their horses again and rode away briskly, their usual conversational chatter gone and their eyes alert. There weren't many patches of grass tall enough for anything to hide in, but there were enough to make Elodie nervous, and her two companions obviously felt the same way. All Briony's talk of her prowess with a sword and bow seemed to pale after viewing those enormous bites, and Elodie felt her faith in her own magic wavering, too. 

It was a great relief when a small town appeared on the horizon. As they got closer, they saw family groups working in the fields. They were in ankle-deep water between rows of rice plants, carefully pulling out weeds, but each field had at least one child posted as lookout. They called out to their families as the girls approached on horseback, and a woman from one of the groups of workers came over to the road to talk to them. 

"Ho, travellers! Will you be staying in Marshpond tonight?"

"If that's the next town, then yes we will," Elodie replied.

"Good girls. You don't want to be out on these roads at night."

"We found a dead man," Briony said abruptly. "Might you know him?"

She shook her head. "No, but there were people out from the town this morning searching for a man named Mardus. You should talk to the town guard when you get there."

"I'm glad he's not from your family," Charlotte said quietly.

"We've lost two men already." The woman's lips narrowed. "Idiot idea, they had, hunting down that creature. You've just got to leave them alone and they go back to the forest once their magic runs out."

"Their magic runs out?" Elodie asked with interest.

"That's what my grandmother told me when I was a little girl. She said they were created by evil magic that escaped at the old palace and that's what sustains them. They can't be away from the forest and live, no matter how many people they kill."

"That's good to know. Thank you."

"Well, just you make sure you're inside by nightfall, all right?"

"Yes ma'am," the girls chorused, politely, and rode on.

"That's good news," Briony said to Elodie once they were out of earshot. "Maybe that will help you take them down!"

"It must be leaking magic," Elodie said. "Wherever it bit that poor man it left traces of magic. I bet it leaves footprints, though probably not as bright."

"We could track it!" Briony said.

"Weren't you listening to her?" Charlotte interrupted. "She said it will run out of magic and go back to the forest by itself."

"It's a long way from the forest. Imagine how many people it will kill on the way back!" Elodie told her.

"Yeah, we can't just let it eat its way through the population of Caloris until it's done!"

"They all know to stay inside at night…well, not the man we found," Charlotte conceded.

"Let's talk to the town guard and see what happened. Maybe he went out to try to kill it or something," Elodie told her. "If it's not going to kill more people we should leave it alone. But if it is…"

"The town guard, definitely," Charlotte agreed.

There were more farmers as they approached Marshpond, and a few of them repeated the woman's warning, but the girls assured them that they would be staying inside come nightfall. 

The town had obviously got its name from the large murky pond outside the gates, where a few burly laundrymen were washing clothes, beating them against large square rocks that must have been put there for that purpose. Elodie was briefly hit by a wave of homesickness – she could see the same scene from her window most mornings – but she pushed it down.

The guardhouse was right at the town gate – the town had a gate, if no actual fence – and a young man in faded Caloris livery popped out to hold a long spear in their way. 

"Halt, who goes there?" he asked, though he looked more interested to see them than fierce.

"Briony of Mead and her companions," Briony stated.

"And your purpose?" He was already moving the spear out of their way.

"Staying the night before travelling on."

"Then pass!" 

Elodie leaned down from her horse. "Actually we needed to speak to you, or maybe your captain, about something we found on the road."

The young man's face fell. "Oh no, did you find Mardus?"

"We think so."

Briony held out the leather bracelet she had taken from the body. "Did he wear this?"

"Yes, his wife made it for him. Damn. We were all hoping he had just been delayed in the city, even though we couldn't think of anything that would delay him, not with the weather as good as it has been." He turned and yelled, "Captain!"

A tall woman with an eyepatch came out of a nearby shop. She was wearing a long apron and looked more like a shopkeeper than a captain, apart from the sword at her hip. It was an old weapon, and very fine.

"What is it, Garvey? Ah, travellers. Welcome to Marshpond! I hope that you will stay the night."

"Captain, they found Mardus's body on their way." He handed her the leather bracelet and she looked just as upset as the young guard had. This town must be very close-knit.

"Thank you for bringing us this. Could you tell me what state you found the body in?"

"He'd been partially eaten and there was an unnatural smell," Elodie said, "And there were no insects on his body."

"Must be the keythong again, dammit." She looked up at the girls. "There's a dangerous creature on the loose, so please make sure to stay indoors after nightfall. Mardus went to Caloriston to ask for help for our town and those nearby, but he must have been caught out at dusk. There's long stretches of road with no farms, where the winter marsh gas is bad." She shook her head. "Poor Mardus. How far away is his body?"

Elodie thought back. "About three hours' ride, probably twice as long walking. There were no farms in the area, not for at least an hour's ride. We marked the spot with an arrow made of stones."

She nodded. "All right. We'll head out tomorrow to retrieve him. Thank you. I'll have to go tell his wife now. You girls should go to the inn and get your horses safely stabled – it's along Baker's Way, to your left there."

"Thank you!" Elodie said politely, and the other girls echoed her. The captain had looked really upset about Mardus's death and it felt like they were intruding on the town's grief. 

They rode along Baker's Way as the captain had said, but the town wasn't really big enough to become lost in, and the inn was easy to find. It was quite a large building for such a small town, but Elodie supposed that there weren't any other towns nearby. There were already two horses in the stables, but there was plenty of space for more, and, with the help of a stablegirl and stableboy, the innkeeper's children, they took care of their gear and rubbed the horses down and paid for them to have a good feed. Poor Charlotte was very sore from the day's ride, but she still insisted on looking after her horse herself.

"After all, Wintergreen has done more work than I have."

According to the children, there was a bath at the inn, and Charlotte was very much looking forward to that. So was Elodie, to be honest: she hadn't felt quite clean since finding Mardus's body. 

The innkeeper was very welcoming, even as he repeated the warning to stay inside after nightfall, and showed them to a plain but very clean room with two large beds. 

"I'll share with Elodie," Briony told Charlotte. "You should sleep as comfortably as you can because we have to ride all day tomorrow, too."

Elodie had to admit, she felt inexplicably anxious about sharing a bed with Briony, but she was right, Charlotte would need her rest the most. 

Once the innkeeper called up that the bath was ready, Charlotte dashed off on her stiff legs to the bath house – well, it was more of a bath shed – behind the kitchen. 

"Do you think we need to watch over her?" Elodie asked Briony. They were lying side-by-side on their shared bed, relaxing.

"They seem like nice people here, and I'm sure she'll scream if she catches someone peeping. Besides, no-one knows that she's a Lady, just me."

"I saw you checking if there was a lock on the inn door when we came in. Are you planning to sneak out and fight the keythong yourself?"

Briony blushed in shame at getting caught. "Maybe. It's killing people! It needs to be stopped! Besides, if there's lots more in the Old Forest, it will be good practise to take on a single beast now."

"It might kill you!" 

"Yeah, well, if a single keythong can do it, I'd better not lead the two of you into the Old Forest, had I?"

"I'll come with you," Elodie said suddenly, surprising herself. "My magic should be able to stop it long enough for you to slay it." She had meant to warn Briony against going, but it had come out all wrong.

"Thanks! I knew I could count on you! We should leave Charlotte here, though. She's going to be exhausted enough already."

Or she might talk us out of it, Elodie thought. Briony was right, though: Elodie had wanted to stop the keythong ever since she'd heard about it, despite her father's gloomy predictions that it would kill anyone who tried. Her father was extremely wary of magic, though, and avoided learning about it: he had no idea what a trained Lumen like Elodie could do! 

"When I'm Queen, I'm going to make sure there's lots more Lumens," Elodie said, determined. "The three other Lumens I know can train them. Then whenever something like this happens, we'll be able to stop it, rather than just leaving these poor people to cower in their homes at night."

"If we find more Lumen crystals at the old palace, you could have hundreds of Lumens all over the country! The Duchess of Ursul is my aunt, and she might teach me!" Briony was caught up in Elodie's excitement. 

"You'd be a great Lumen!" Elodie could just imagine Briony wielding magic alongside her blade. "We could have Lumen Knights, like Nova did hundreds of years ago, before the Doomshadow fell and most of the Lumens died."

Briony made a face. "That seems to happen every now and then, doesn't it? I mean, when I was looking in the archives it was all, magic, magic, magic, terrible thing, every few hundred years."

"We don't know it was the magic that caused it, though! Maybe they were using magic to fight the first signs of whatever happened?"

"Yeah, I guess that could be it. People are so superstitious. One time my aunt was riding in her carriage, just doing normal inspections of her duchy, and people threw mud and rotten vegetables at her."

Elodie was shocked. "She's pretty scary, your aunt. I wouldn't dare do that! And I don't mean because of the magic."

"Yeah, she got out of the carriage and everyone ran away!" 

They both laughed. 

Elodie was next in the bath, which was kept reasonably warm by backing onto the kitchen fireplace. It wasn't the steaming perfumed soak of her dreams, but it was still relaxing and she felt much better after a good wash with a nice bar of oatmeal soap. She hoped that killing the keythong wouldn't be too messy, because she wasn't sure if she'd get another bath in the morning. 

Charlotte was fast asleep when Elodie walked back up to their room, and Briony took her turn in the bath. Elodie wasn't so tired as to need a sleep, but she did lie down for a moment to rest her eyes. 

"Elodie!" Briony was shaking her shoulder. "Seriously, you're as bad as Charlotte. You didn't even lock the door!" 

"Oh, leave me alone," Elodie snapped. The "lock" was only a piece of wood on a cord pulled through to secure the door – it wasn't like a slightly determined thief with a knife wouldn't be able to open it in under a second. She felt all out of sorts after her little nap. 

Charlotte, on the other hand, seemed much refreshed, and was happy to comb Elodie's hair back into her usual ringlet pigtails. 

"Oh, come on Briony, I don't want to go to dinner with you looking like a stablehand," Charlotte complained, waving the comb at her. 

"Baths and hairstyling, hmmph! I should have just gone on my own!" Briony did, however, sit down and let Charlotte neaten up her hair and get the straw out. "Next you're going to make me wear a dress to dinner."

"Oh no, that's too much of a challenge for me!" Charlotte giggled. 

"I didn't bring one," Elodie added, "Not even my riding habit. So I can hardly make you wear one."

Charlotte giggled again. "This will be the first time I've eaten dinner in breeches! Mummy makes us dress up even when it's just family, for practice. To be fair, my little brother needs a lot of practice."

"Well, at least our hair will be nice," Briony conceded.

There were four other travellers at the inn that night, all of whom were glad to be inside and safe. Three of them were peddlers who frequently travelled the area, and the fourth was, unfortunately, a ducal messenger, who recognised Elodie at first glance. She'd be on a fast horse, too, so her information would reach the right ears sooner than Elodie would like.

Elodie pulled her aside. "Please don't tell my father where I am."

The messenger bowed. "My lady, I'm sorry, but if they ask me, I'll have to say."

"All right, I don't want you to get into trouble, but please don't volunteer the information. My friends and I are doing important work for Nova and I would really appreciate a little more time before my father swoops in to lock me up in the castle again." Elodie was exaggerating – she'd never been locked up as such, even though Charlotte's mother had thought it a good idea for her own safety.

She bowed again. "Yes, my lady. That I can do."

"Is she going to tell on us?" Briony whispered to Elodie when she returned to their table. 

"I think so, but not unless they ask her. That will give us a little extra time."

"Good work." Briony clapped Elodie on the shoulder and she glowed with pride. 

Dinner was surprisingly delicious, a sweet chicken stew with lychees, almonds and some kind of dried fruit that Elodie didn't recognise, and very filling. Elodie and Briony both refused beer – they didn't want to be sleepy tonight to battle the keythong – but unfortunately Charlotte followed their example. Elodie exchanged a glance with Briony: hopefully Charlotte would sleep heavily enough after the day's riding to not wake when they departed for their midnight mission. 

The moment the sun went down, the inn's doors were firmly locked and the door barred, with a massive piece of wood that it took three sturdy men to lift: Briony and Elodie would have no hope of moving it. Fortunately, they should be able to climb out of their window easily enough, as long as they didn't wake Charlotte doing so. Nobody came and went from the inn, as they did from the drinking hole Elodie occasionally sneaked out to back in the capital: the only people here were the innkeeping family and the guests. Still, once the door was barred people didn't seem too bothered by the threat outside. 

The ducal messenger was reassuring the youngest of the peddlers about the threat. "It's never once crossed the threshold of a home. As long as you stay inside after sunset, you don't have to worry. It's always the way with these creatures – they flee the light. I ride past the Old Forest all the time: it's completely overgrown and dark. No wonder evil thrives in there."

"They should burn it down!" the youngest peddler, who didn't look particularly comforted, said.

"Oh, they tried. But the flames turned green and went out in minutes."

Charlotte took Elodie's hand. "See? We shouldn't go there."

"Don't you want to find a Lumen crystal?" Elodie asked her.

"Yeah, otherwise you'll have to wait for your mother to die!" Briony added.

Charlotte shook her head. "I don't want my mother to die. I don't." 

Elodie patted her hand. "Come on, Charlotte. Let's go up to bed and things will be less scary in the morning." Because the keythong will be dead, she thought to herself, and caught Briony's eye.

The three girls went up to bed, locking the door behind them and stripping off their outer garments before snuggling into bed. The mattresses had fresh straw and were quite comfortable, if not like Elodie's own feather bed. Charlotte went to sleep quickly, with a little frown on her face, before Elodie had even blown out their candle. Elodie felt bad about that, but at least she was asleep. 

"We should wait a little while to make sure she stays asleep," Briony whispered. 

"Yeah, we should." Elodie was very conscious of Briony's warm arm draped over her waist. She didn't move, though, instead waiting until Charlotte's breathing became slow and even. Then she created a small but bright light hovering above her head. 

"Wow, that's amazing!" Briony gasped.

"It's the first thing I learned." Elodie had made the ball of light so many times that it was no more difficult than standing up or sitting down, so it was quite exciting to have Briony admire it. The two girls quietly got dressed, pausing at every clink of metal or dropped boot. Charlotte's mother had a spell that could muffle sound – she used it so that no-one could overhear their meetings – but unfortunately Elodie hadn't yet learned it. 

Charlotte, though, had relaxed fully into sleep and didn't wake at the small sounds that seemed so dramatic to Elodie and Briony. Briony slid the window open and climbed out onto the broad eaves of the floor below, then reached back to help Elodie over the sill. They slid down the eaves then swung their legs over the edge and dropped down to the street below. 

Briony looked up. "I hadn't really thought about how we'll get back in."

"Don't be silly! By then we will have killed the keythong and there'll be no reason for everyone to lock up."

"Oh yeah!" 

"Let's get outside the town so I don't damage anyone's homes with my magic, and you'll have a clear shot." They started walking towards the edge of town, which was not very far. Every door and window was closed: not even lamps lit the dark streets. Elodie's light was as clear as day, though, and they had no trouble seeing where they were going. They walked out to the road outside the main gate, where the stone wall of the captain's shop gave them something solid at their backs. 

"Do you think it will even come?" Briony asked.

"Well, that poor guy Mardus was out in the middle of nowhere when it got him. That's either a really unlucky coincidence, or it can somehow find prey all across the wetlands." Elodie felt strangely unafraid, standing side by side with Briony, putting themselves in deliberate danger. "Anyway, I've got us shielded, so it can't surprise us."

"Can I fight through the shield?"

"Yes, but when you strike, the shield will collapse and I'll have to put it up again."

"Okay, I understand." Briony's breathing was a little fast, but she seemed otherwise calm, surveying the night. It was starry and clear, but the moon was only a sliver, and it was very dark outside Elodie's circle of light.

Elodie felt, rather than saw, something very wrong heading in their direction at top speed. It felt like the glowing green marks on the dead man had smelled, though she couldn't really make sense of that. "Something's coming!"

"Ready!" 

The keythong glided to the ground in front of them on broad wings made of tight-stretched skin. It was huge: the size of a small horse, but with a cat's predatory claws and a harsh, snapping beak. Its back was covered in gleaming pale spikes that looked like bone, and its breath was hot and revolting. It folded the wings back at its flanks and prowled the edge of the field of light.

"Nobody said it could fly!" Briony said, sounded rather put out.

"Well, it had to be covering all that ground somehow!" 

The keythong leapt straight at Briony, its long body twisting in midair to nimbly avoid her sword strike. Elodie quickly shielded Briony again as it kicked at her with its back feet, its rear claws the size of meat hooks. It would have killed her instantly if not for the magical shield, and even then the force of the kick against the shield was enough to push Briony to the ground. She rolled back to her feet immediately; the keythong backed off a little, confused by the failure of its attack.

It recovered before Briony and Elodie could exchange a single word, and this time tried to bite Elodie with its sharp beak. She pushed back and lashed at it with a shining filament that she conjured from her other hand. Instead of being hurt, the keythong simply glowed slightly and Elodie's spell vanished. The shielding spell held, at least, and Briony lunged at it with her sword, getting a hit on its shoulder and spattering dark green blood on the dirt road.

"First blood!" Briony whooped. 

Her attack had only made the keythong angry. Its spines bristled and it leapt clear over their heads, only to spin around as it landed, its tail lashing back and forth. It leapt at them again, both claws and beak flashing in the light. 

Elodie didn't have time to think about what she'd done wrong with the spell and concentrated on holding their shield in place. When the keythong collided with it, both girls sprawled on their backsides in the dirt, but Briony again managed to slash at the beast and draw blood from its chest. 

Unfortunately, it looked like the shoulder wound had already closed up, and the chest wound was barely a scratch. Elodie put her hands over Briony's on the hilt of the sword and directed a beam of light down the length of the sword and into the flank of the keythong. It was more than enough to kill a person, and enough to drive the keythong back a few steps while it yowled in pain. Then, just as before, the creature glowed and Elodie's spell fizzled out. 

"Help me hold it for a moment, I have to think," Elodie gasped. 

"No problem!" Briony pulled Elodie up to her feet, and waved her sword menacingly, reflecting Elodie's light from the blade to confuse the keythong. It didn't like the brightness, and lashed its tail, snarling. 

It swiped at Briony with one enormous paw, testing the boundaries, but Elodie could hold that without much effort. She looked at the keythong more closely, concentrating on its magic this time rather than its terrifying appearance. It was very unlike any other being that Elodie had seen before; not like a regular animal, or a human being, or even a Lumen. Parts of it looked like an animal, buzzing with the magic of being alive, but nothing more. Between these parts, though, there were great swathes of that horrible green that had been smeared all over Mardus's body. 

It leapt again, this time aiming for Briony directly. Again the shields held, but they were both thrown to the ground and the keythong swung back and continued its attack. Briony stabbed at its face, but it dodged with incredible speed and clamped its beak on her arm. 

Briony screamed as the bones of her arm cracked, but now Elodie knew what to do. She grabbed the sword as Briony dropped it and stabbed at one of the green areas, right behind the beak. The keythong shrieked, releasing Briony, and turned on Elodie instead. She sent a hundred stinging darts swarming at it, distracting it while she slashed into its back, right on the edge between the pale spikes and the cat-like fur. It rolled away from her, but Elodie managed to hang onto the sword. Briony had pulled an arrow from her quiver with her good hand. 

"What are you doing, Elodie?" she shouted.

"Attack at the seams! Where one part joins onto the next!" 

The keythong, now disoriented, lunged at the girls with its paws extended. Briony managed to stab her arrow into its flank at the wing joint, and Elodie slashed again at where the beak joined on to its catlike face. 

"Stop! You're killing it!" It was Charlotte's voice, but there was nothing timid in it. She was standing in the middle of the road dressed only in her breeches, boots and undershirt, her hair sticking out in all directions. 

"That's the idea!" Briony yelled back, preparing another arrow. 

The keythong ran at Charlotte and Elodie screamed, unable to shield her in time, but Charlotte didn't dodge. Instead she put her hand squarely on the creature's forehead, right above the terrible hook of its beak. The keythong stopped dead, staring at her. 

"I'm sorry magic has poisoned you," Charlotte said, gently. "Let me help."

Elodie could see the murky green light begin to brighten and pull away from the keythong. It sat down on its haunches in front of Charlotte, and Elodie hurried to her side. 

"Help me," Charlotte said, and Elodie could see she was sweating. "There's so much power here but it's so wrong."

"I know," Elodie told her, and placed her hands on the creature's shoulder, near where Briony had wounded it. There was no sign of the injury at all now, but a little further back, where Briony had lodged an arrow into the join between wing and cat-body, the slimy green magic oozed out. Elodie concentrated on drawing the magic away from the creature, pouring it out onto the ground. Charlotte saw what she was doing and copied her, letting the poisonous magic fall to the ground instead of pulling it into herself. 

Elodie had no sense of time passing, but her glowing light had faded into the pink of dawn by the time they were done. Briony sat in the road holding her broken arm, white with shock, and Charlotte looked hardly any better. 

Townspeople gathered in the gate behind them, unwilling to venture any closer, but fascinated by the scene before them. The one-eyed captain of the guard stood at the front of the group, holding back the more eager among the townsfolk. 

Elodie and Charlotte were spattered to their knees in sticky, smelly mud by now, but they couldn't stop. They kept pulling the magic from the increasingly smaller creature under their hands and tipping it into the dirt, which splashed and clung to their legs. 

Finally, Elodie felt the spell collapse entirely, giving way like a sandcastle in the tide. Instead of one terrifying creature, four small forest animals lay panting in the mud: a lynx, a hedgehog, a bat and an owl. Even as exhausted as they were, they scrabbled to get away from the threatening humans, but could barely move. 

Elodie was almost as exhausted, but pulled herself up with every ounce of strength and every second of training she had. "Here is your keythong," she declaimed to the villagers, making sure her voice carried in a regal manner rather than breaking into sobs. "These poor creatures were caught in an old, evil magic and poisoned: my cousin and I have restored them to their natural forms. Would someone take care of them until they have recovered enough to return to their natural home?"

For a moment, she thought no-one was going to respond, but then the innkeeper's children who had cared for the horses, called out, "We will!" 

The two of them, a boy and a girl, ducked under the captain's outstretched arms and hurried over to Elodie and Charlotte. 

"No!" someone called, but they ignored the cry. 

"Here, put the owl in my shirt," the boy said. "I've looked after them before, and they get confused in the daytime." Meanwhile, his sister was wrapping the struggling lynx in her shawl, and it took the opportunity to rest, its eyes still darting back and forth. The hedgehog and the bat went in the large patch pockets of her skirt, and the two of them hurried back to their worried parents. Their safe return broke the hold the captain had over the crowd and the townspeople milled forwards. Elodie was worried for a moment, but when the first man went straight past her to help the injured Briony, she let herself sit down, despite the mud. 

The ducal messenger and another woman lifted Elodie back to her feet, out of the mud, and others were helping the equally exhausted Charlotte. 

"What's this mud you've left behind?" asked the captain. "Is it dangerous?"

"Yes, it's poisonous," Elodie told her. "You should dig it up and take it somewhere far away, somewhere where no-one has a farm."

"Out where there's marsh gas. I will make sure that it's done," the captain promised. 

"Bring them back to the inn!" someone shouted, and before she knew it, Elodie was being carried into the town, and from there to the inn. 

"Let's get you some clean clothes," the innkeeper said, and women took Elodie and Charlotte up to their room to shed their mud-soaked garments, rinse their skin with fresh water, and replace their clothes with nightgowns that would fit the innkeeper perfectly, but were far too large on the two girls. 

"Where's Briony? I have to help her," Charlotte said, though she could barely stand upright.

"You'll kill yourself!" Elodie told her. 

"No, I have to see her." Charlotte stubbornly pushed through the crowd of women until they gave way and helped her back down the stairs. Elodie followed, though she had to cling to the bannister to maintain any semblance of dignity. 

Briony sat at the dinner table while an elderly man examined her arm. He shook his head. "Going to have to come off." 

Briony bit her lip. "My arm is not coming off!" 

"Don't worry. I won't let them take your arm." Charlotte sat next to her, and Elodie took the chair on the other side, much to the annoyance of the old man.

"I can see that other people know better than I do, me, a healer for fifty years!" he declared, but people seemed to be used to this kind of statement and instead clustered around to see what Charlotte and Elodie would do.

"Help me," Briony asked Charlotte, who nodded, and placed her hands, very gently, on Briony's torn and broken arm. It did look terrible, the flesh ripped and poisoned green, and though Elodie couldn't see bone, her forearm had a bend in the middle that made Elodie feel faintly sick. 

"I can draw out the poison now," Charlotte told her, her voice very small, "But I don't think I have enough energy to heal a break like that."

"I guess I'll just have to learn to fight left-handed," Briony said, and Elodie was impressed with her bravery.

"No! That's not what I mean! I mean, I can heal the poison now, and the bone tomorrow. Your arm will be fine."

At that, Briony finally burst into tears. "I'm so sorry I brought you both here! This is a terrible adventure, and it was a terrible idea all along! I just wanted to make my parents proud!"

"I'm sure they will be," Elodie told her, though she was privately a bit dubious: if they hadn't noticed her running away from school, would they care about this quest? 

Charlotte placed her hands on Briony's arm as gently as possible, but Briony still bit back a whimper. "Stay still, and you will feel much better soon."

A pale glow spread from Charlotte's hands to Briony's arm, pouring over the wounds where the murky green smears were. The light spread up her arm and into her shoulder in thin threads, following the course of the poison in her body. Charlotte was sweating with the effort, and Elodie put her hands on Charlotte's shoulders to offer her what remained of Elodie's own strength.

With Elodie's power and Charlotte's skill, the green faded from Briony's arm, causing a sudden recurrence of bleeding. The healer, despite his earlier crankiness, firmly bandaged her arm to stanch it, and Briony fainted, sliding off her chair sideways, only to be caught by the innkeeper. Charlotte flopped back in her seat, though she didn't lose consciousness, and Elodie had to suddenly sit down, too. Magic was hard work! Townsfolk carried them upstairs to bed, and Elodie slipped down into blissful sleep. 

When Elodie awoke, it was daytime and her father was sitting on the end of her bed. He looked exhausted. 

"Daddy!" 

"Elodie, darling!" He hugged her close. "I'm so glad that you came to no harm. What were you thinking, sneaking off like that? You could easily have been killed, and Charlotte and Briony, too!" There was an angry edge to his voice, real anger that Elodie had never heard directed her way.

"I'm sorry that we didn't tell anyone, or take anyone else with us," Elodie said, carefully, "But I'm not sorry that we saved the keythong and stopped it eating more people."

"You're the crown princess, and in a few weeks you will be Queen! You can't risk yourself like this."

"No, Daddy, I have to risk myself. I have the power and the training, and we don't have to accept a magical beast escaping from the forest and killing people! That man we found dead, Mardus, he was just as important to his family as I am to you."

"Mardus's death won't lead to a civil war," her father told her, but the angry tone in his voice was gone.

"Neither will mine – Aunt Lucille is the Lumen Minister, and she'll make sure her husband and then Charlotte rule. I know that's no excuse for sneaking out, but I am proud that we stopped the keythong and saved the people of the wetlands. How did you get here so fast?"

"You've been asleep for two days – your Aunt Lucille and I started out after you as soon as we realised what had happened, and you were not hard to follow. I only wish we'd caught up before you had to battle that creature."

"Well, that would have been helpful, but only if you didn't immediately drag me back to the castle and lock me up," Elodie pointed out. 

Her father shook his head. "For your own safety, not to punish you! I can't lose you so soon after losing your mother."

"I know." Elodie hugged him again and they stayed that way for a long time, until Charlotte began to stir in the next bed. 

"Why don't you get dressed and I'll send Charlotte's mother in?" her father said, and disentangled himself from Elodie, with a kiss on the top of her head.

A long dress – obviously from the palace, as it was made exactly to Elodie's size – lay on the other side of the bed, and a parcel of undergarments beside it. She sighed – she'd been starting to enjoy the breeches! Still, it was nice to have clean clothes, and she quickly got dressed, pulling the dress over her head rather than fussing with buttons. 

Aunt Lucille, or Countess Nix, as Elodie should call her in public, rushed into the room and sat on the end of Charlotte's bed, just as Elodie's father had sat by hers. The blanket was already mussed where she sat – both parents must have been there for hours, waiting for their daughters to awaken. 

"Charlotte figured it all out," Elodie said. "I found the magic sticking those poor animals together, but she was the one who drew the poison out. Why is there so much magic in the Old Forest?"

Lucille stroked Charlotte's hair. "You know that magic has a price – a toll on your body and mind. The last two days show that. But, from what Priestess Selene and the Duchess of Ursul and I can piece together, it seems that great magic has a larger cost, as well. It draws too much from the land, and, in the worst case, poisons it permanently, as in Borealis. The Old Forest still lives, but it has twisted and damaged the creatures within it."

"Then that is going to be the goal of my reign!" Elodie declared. "We are going to clean up the damage of the old magics, without causing any more harm."

"I think that's easier said than done," Lucille said, somewhat dismissively.

"If it was just me, I would agree, but I have something those Lumens of old didn't have. I have Charlotte, and she won't let me do harm."

Charlotte, who had been awake for the last few exchanges of words, agreed. "I didn't let Elodie and Briony hurt that poor keythong. Everything we do has to be to restore balance, in harmony with nature."

"Exactly!" Elodie agreed, and left to go downstairs to see Briony, and – just a little bit – to make sure she had the last word. 

Downstairs, Priestess Selene was examining Briony's arm. "There's a great deal of damage to the bones of your lower arm. It's going to take a little while to heal entirely: you'll have to stay at the castle while Charlotte and I work on it."

"You've had much more training than she has. Can't you just fix it?" Briony asked. She never had been very patient. 

Selene laughed, but gently. "I do have more training, but Charlotte has a natural talent. Together we will be able to make your arm as good as new."

"Hi, Elodie!" Briony waved with her good hand. "Priestess Selene says I have to stay with you!"

Elodie had casually assumed that Briony's parents, at least one of them, would be here, too, but that was not the case. She felt terrible for Briony, having done so much to win their approval, only for them to be absent when she needed them. Still, it would be exciting to have Briony stay longer. 

"Good! You should stay as long as you like!" Elodie told her. "It's fun having you around."

Briony made a face at her injured arm. "I don't know that I'd call this fun. I can't even dress myself. But thanks. I'd like to stay longer."

For once, Elodie's father had left the carriage behind in the interests of speed, and Elodie got to ride Glimmer instead, alongside her father and his horse. All along the way, people ran over from their fields to cheer. Elodie thought at first they must be cheering her father, who was after all the duke of Caloris, and they didn't get to see him very often. The news about the keythong must have spread quickly, though, because Elodie soon realised that the farmers were cheering for her, and for Briony and Charlotte. Charlotte blushed intensely, but Briony took to the acclaim like a champion, waving back with her good arm and bowing from the saddle. Elodie thought she'd better not be outdone, and followed suit, though her seat was not as good as Briony's and she nearly fell off more than once. 

Back at the castle, Briony's mother had, finally, made an appearance. Corisande, Duchess Mead, greeted them in the courtyard as they rode in.

"Mother! This is a surprise!" Briony managed to get in before Elodie and her father could officially greet Duchess Mead. 

"Oh, Briony, your poor arm! What happened to you!" 

"Well, there was a magical beast…"

"What were you thinking! You could have been killed."

"She was with Charlotte and me the whole time!" Elodie interrupted. "She helped us save the lives of many people."

"You were there with her? Why didn't you talk her out of this?" Duchess Mead only seemed to become angrier.

"She's a hero, Mother!" Briony objected.

"There is no such thing. Only fools risking their lives for no good reason. Come on, young lady. We're going home."

"No." Elodie spoke in her most commanding tone. "Briony will not receive the care she needs back in Mead. She needs to stay here." Elodie glared into the duchess's face so she would have no doubt of Elodie's meaning, even if everyone else could think she was speaking of Briony's wounded arm.

"I…Briony, don't you want to come home?"

Briony awkwardly dismounted her horse to stand by Elodie. "No, Mother. Not unless it's really my home again. You care more about Uncle Kevan than you do about me, and while that's true, I'm staying here with someone who does care about me."

To Elodie's surprise and secret delight, Briony was blushing slightly. Her mother, however, flushed an ugly, angry red and threw her hands up.

"Fine! Stay here, then. Do what you want." She turned away. "Prepare my carriage!"

Briony looked, for a moment, as if she was about to cry, but Elodie quickly slipped her hand into Briony's. 

"You can stay here as long as you want. I'd like that."

Briony smiled, instead. 

The next two weeks went past in a flurry of activity: Elodie was determined to learn as much about magic as she possibly could; as was Charlotte. Priestess Selene tutored them, as she was a Lumen herself, and sometimes the Duchess of Ursul helped with a particularly tricky problem. As Charlotte did not have her own crystal, she was quite limited in the range of her abilities, but in healing and repairing magical damage, she was superb, surpassing Selene herself. 

A few weeks before their journey into Caloris, a prisoner accused of murdering his wife had attacked Elodie with his own Lumen powers. She had defended herself and his own spell rebounded and killed him, leaving behind only his crystal. 

"Do you think Charlotte might be able to use the spare crystal?" Elodie asked Selene. "I mean, the Duchess of Ursul said that it would have a negative resonance because its previous owner used it to attack and kill, but Charlotte might be able to overcome that, even heal the crystal, maybe."

Selene looked doubtful. "The resonance of a crystal is very strong, and Charlotte's powers have worked on living things, not a Lumen crystal. Still, there's no harm in trying. At the worst, it simply won't bond with Charlotte."

Briony's arm was much better – she could use her fingers now, if not pick up anything heavier than a spoon – so the next morning Elodie decided to bring the crystal to Charlotte and Selene instead. She retrieved it from the treasury, where her own Lumen crystal had been held in the time between her mother's death and her own bonding with the crystal. The orange crystal felt very different to Elodie's own pink one. She had immediately been drawn to her mother's crystal, but this one was faintly repulsive – hopefully it wouldn't harm Charlotte!

Selene, Charlotte and Briony were all in the chapel, examining the healing from the day before.

"My arm got pretty tired by the end of the day, but at least there's no more pain," Briony told them. 

Selene was bent over Briony's arm. "It's a good thing that Charlotte and Elodie drew that poison, or I don't think you'd be here today." 

"Good morning!" Elodie greeted them cheerfully. "I brought the crystal for Charlotte to see."

"This is very exciting!" Charlotte said, then frowned. "You should have told me that there was another crystal here – then I wouldn't have listened to you emotionally blackmailing me about my mother having to die before I could have my own crystal."

"It's a good thing you did listen, though." Briony was entirely unrepentant. 

Elodie unwrapped the crystal and placed it on the pew in front of Charlotte, who peered at it closely. 

"I think whoever had this crystal was an unpleasant person: they may have started out just careless and rough, but once they became a Lumen, that turned into a need to lord it over everyone around them. It was used to murder someone, too."

"Yes, the man's wife," Elodie told her.

"I don't think my powers are going to have any effect on this crystal. The only thing that might would be a new owner – but it would be hard to find someone who is rash and careless enough to bond with the crystal and yet be someone you could trust."

"It's talking to me," Briony said suddenly. "It's singing." Her face was soft with wonder. 

Selene looked from Briony to the crystal and back. It was shining a golden light onto her face. "I think the crystal has made its own decision," she said. 

Elodie wanted to stamp her foot – Charlotte was the one who had done all the work for a Lumen crystal, not Briony – but at the same time she was trembling with excitement. After all, Briony's father was from the Ursul line, notoriously full of Lumens, and he must have passed that talent down to Briony. 

The Duchess of Ursul and Countess Nix hurried in – Selene must have summoned them without Elodie noticing. 

"Take the crystal, Briony," the Duchess said. "That's how the things we discussed will come to pass."

"Oh, of course!" Briony smiled, and took the crystal. It flared bright gold for a moment and vanished: Elodie knew that it was over Briony's heart, now.

"Good girl," said the Duchess, and embraced Briony. "Good girl." She turned to Elodie. "I suppose now is as good a time as any. Selene and I will be petitioning you to adopt Briony as my heir."

"Selene and…" Elodie was surprised for a moment, but then it all made sense – she had seen them in the garden holding hands when they thought no-one was watching. "I will have to wait for your official petition, but I promise you I will grant it," Elodie told them. "That's wonderful!" 

Briony's eyes were brimming with tears. "Thank you so much," she said, though Elodie wasn't sure to whom she was speaking: Elodie, her new mothers, the crystal, or just the world in general. 

Charlotte jumped up to embrace her, and Elodie did the same. She was glad that Charlotte was happy for Briony, rather than jealous, because she didn't have another crystal for Charlotte. 

The three girls were inseparable: learning about magic together, helping restore Briony's arm to full function, starting to plan how they would heal the Old Forest, looking through the archives to find the right text for the wedding of two women: it wasn't unusual for common people, but, due to the requirement to produce an heir, almost unheard of in recent times for nobles. Adopting Briony would solve that dilemma for the Duchess, of course, and Briony had a younger brother who could inherit. If he didn't want the title, Kevan, Earl of Io, would be next in line, unless he ended up dead fighting one duel too many. 

Kevan, as it turned out, attended the tournament that Elodie hosted the next week, and did very well in the fencing and staves divisions: Elodie herself didn't complete, though she did lead the parade to open the event, and Briony was still not healed enough to be wielding a sword or pulling back a bow.

"The first tournament where I'm of age to compete and I'm stuck in the royal tent with you!" she said, but she held Elodie's hand, hidden by their long skirts, and they cheered together for the victors. 

When Kevan approached to receive his floral garland as winner of the staff-fighting, he bowed to both Elodie and Briony. 

"I'm glad you're going to your aunt," he told Briony.

"Why? So that you can inherit?" Briony snapped before Elodie could stop her. The two of them shared a temper.

"No, Briony. I'm just glad you're out of the house of Mead. It's…complicated."

Whatever that meant, it seemed to appease Briony. "Thank you. Remember you can visit here any time, too." 

Elodie chipped in, "You're very welcome!" and dropped a garland around his neck. The queue of tired victors behind him was growing long. 

The following morning, Elodie was formally summoned to the throne room, something that hadn't happened since she was ten and her mother was there to do the summoning. Worried, she went downstairs to find her father had brought in the map table from the library, and had a map of the coastline unrolled before him. 

He glanced up at her approach. "Ships have been sighted on approach from Shanjia. Not tradeships - this is a warfleet."

"What?" Elodie was stunned.

"Within a week they will be in Novan waters. Within two they could reach the capital." 

Elodie stood up straight. "Then we will fight to defend ourselves." 

Her father sighed. "You could choose to act as admiral and lead the fleet in person, but the danger to you would be very great."

"The risk is mine to take," Elodie said sternly. 

"You have your mother's heart…There is one more thing. I hesitate to ask, but... this is the sort of disaster for which a Lumen's power may be worth the cost."

Elodie stared at him. How his position on Lumens had changed! "I'll have to speak to the Duchess."

Really, Elodie knew what the Duchess would tell her: that yes, they could work to sink the fleet together. Those magical light beams that she fired could easily hole an enemy ship, and that was just Elodie alone. With three other Lumens – plus possibly Briony and Charlotte – they would be able to destroy a fleet. But the image of the keythong collapsing into its component parts kept haunting her. It had been poisoned by the sheer force of magic around the old palace, and what would happen if they combined their powers at sea? Would the fish all die? Elodie knew that whatever they did, it would cause great harm to nature. But couldn't she save hundreds of lives?

Instead of going to the Duchess of Ursul, Elodie went to find Briony and Charlotte. They had, together, dealt with one of the terrible consequences of magic use, and maybe they could help Elodie understand what she should do. Briony was out in the practice yard, swinging a weighted wooden sword to start building up her muscles again, so Elodie sent a page to find her; Charlotte was, as usual, in the chapel with Priestess Selene. 

"I need to speak to Charlotte, immediately," Elodie told them, and the unusually serious tone in her voice left no room for argument. 

"Of course, my lady," Selene said, and hurried out – Elodie noted that she was headed in the direction of the Duchess of Ursul's rooms, but that was hardly surprising. 

"Briony's on her way, too," Elodie told Charlotte. 

"Are we your royal council? Shouldn't you ask an adult to help? Not Briony, I mean, someone who's really grown up."

"I am going to ask their advice too – I've already spoken with my father – but I really need your help this time."

"Two hundred swings!" Briony declared as she dashed into the chapel. She had, politely, left her practice sword outside. "Now, what did you summon me for?"

"Shanjia is invading. There's a fleet on the way now."

"Well, our navy is strong. There's a good chance we'll defeat them," Briony said. 

"I know there's a chance, but that's not what I'm asking. I know a way to defeat their ships for certain – if I combine the Lumen powers of the Duchess of Ursul, Priestess Selene, and your mother, Charlotte, we can destroy the fleet with no loss of Novan lives. There's no doubt about that."

Charlotte understood. "Your doubt is over the cost."

"I can't create another Old Forest, or another Borealis. But I also can't look those sailors' families in the face when they die and I could have saved them."

Briony twisted her fingers together. "That's true. You can't send the fleet off to fight and just hide here. Do you want me to go? I'll be your representative."

"No!" It became clear to Elodie what she needed to do. "No, but now I see a path forward." She hugged Briony. "I need to go with the fleet and fight: I can ask the sailors to risk their lives if I'm right there risking mine. My mother would have done no less." She thought of her father's proud, sad face as he'd told her he had her mother's heart. She did, in more ways than one: if a murderer had affected Briony's Lumen, surely Elodie's brave mother had influenced hers, and through that, Elodie. 

"I'm still coming with you," Briony said. "I don't have much finesse with magic yet, but I'm still a good fighter and I'll protect you."

"Me too," Charlotte said, though her voice was small. "I can heal the injured and save you if you're hurt. Just don't tell my mother I'm going until it's too late!"

Elodie embraced both of them, intensely grateful to have such friends. 

The Duchess of Ursul had not been impressed with Elodie's plan – she considered it too dangerous – but nonetheless she respected Elodie's intention not to join their magic to destroy the fleet. 

"You're right – there are consequences. We don't know for certain that they would be so terrible, but we know that there would be a price paid."

She and Priestess Selene were in the very front of the crowd at the docks to wave off the fleet, and they stood close together as they waved Briony goodbye. Charlotte had stayed below decks so that her mother wouldn't spot her and drag her off the ship, and this proved to be a good decision, as Elodie saw the moment when the Countess Nix realised that her daughter was not with the royal party on the dock and began to look for her. By then, the ship had unmoored and was on its slow way out of the harbour. Elodie waited a long moment hoping that the Countess wasn't able to use her Lumen power to fly, and then they were safely away. 

The Shanjian fleet was closer than the Novan spies had predicted, only two days from the coastline. Elodie and Briony bought them a little more time by making the waters choppy and slowing the Shanjians, but the fleet was still barely ready. Elodie's heart sank as she saw the enemy fleet clearly for the first time, emerging from early morning fog: the Shanjians had several more ships, and although their ships were smaller, they looked sturdy and manoeuvrable, as well as heavily armed. She was racked with doubt, but Charlotte took her arm. 

"Even if we're defeated today, that's a better legacy than hundreds of years of death and poison in the ocean."

Elodie took a deep breath. "You're right. And I know we'll fight as hard as we can."

Briony climbed into the crow's nest and called out the fleet positions to Elodie, who took her place at the prow of the ship. Briony's own magic wasn't yet strong or focused enough to actually attack the enemy, but she could at least watch for incoming cannonballs and push them slightly off course to hit the water rather than the flagship. Elodie summoned all her strength and sent beams of light straight into the Shanjian ships, hitting right at the water level to hole the ships and quickly take them out of the battle. Unfortunately, the wide-bottomed Shanjian ships were very stable even when damaged. Elodie tried hitting the masts instead, which certainly slowed them and hampered their ability to turn broadsides and fire. The Shanjian crews were fast and capable, though, and untangled the damage quickly. 

"Elodie!" Briony yelled down to her, "I think there's a Lumen on those ships!" 

"What? How do you know?"

"They're repairing the masts! That should be a big deal! It takes weeks to re-mast a ship!"

Elodie couldn't see as clearly as Briony could, but she was pretty sure that she had completely severed the mast on the ship with the green dragons painted up the side, and it was definitely back in place now. "I think you're right!" She grabbed the nearest deckhand and sent her to find Charlotte. 

Charlotte had blood up to her elbows, but she looked energised and ready rather than exhausted. All those lessons with Priestess Selene had taught her to manage her healing powers better, saving the worst injured from death and coming back for more treatment later. 

"Yes, Elodie!"

"Someone on those ships is doing unnaturally fast repairs and we think it might be a Lumen. I'm going to keep them distracted while you feel out their Lumen powers, all right?"

"I might have trouble at that distance, but I'll do my best," Charlotte took cover under the deck railing and closed her eyes in concentration. 

Elodie stepped up her attack, throwing hundreds of disks of light at the opposing fleet in a widely dispersed pattern. The disks weren't strong enough to seriously damage the hull of a ship, but they exploded when they hit something and were certainly good for damaging rigging, starting fires and dazzling their enemies, spreading mass confusion. 

As Elodie had hoped, the enemy Lumen had to act to maintain their position, and the fires all extinguished quickly. 

"Got him!" Charlotte shouted. "He's on the ship with the red carp on the prow – it's Togami, the King of Shanjia."

It was further back than the other ships, and Elodie hadn't tried to hit it, yet. Armed with this information, she waited for Briony's signal as the ships manoeuvred about, then concentrated all her power and shot right through the ship in front of it, then straight through the middle of the ship with the carp. The flagship burst into flame and this sent the Shanjians into turmoil, hauling people off that ship as fast as possible and onto less damaged vessels. Although they were still a long way apart, Elodie felt the gaze of one of the distant figures directly upon her, burning into her with rage. It was not an attack, just the sheer power of the man, and that's all Elodie saw as she slumped back into Charlotte's arms. 

With the flagship and their largest ship both destroyed, the Shanjian morale was broken and their chain of command damaged. They kept fighting for a little while longer, but their lines broke and they turned back, fleeing for the Shanjian coast.

"Do you want us to pursue?" Briony called down to Elodie, who was lying on the deck with her head on Charlotte's lap. Charlotte was generously sharing her energies with Elodie, in between scolding her for using too much of herself in one burst. 

"No! I can't use that much magic again until I recover, and their King is still alive and dangerous. Make sure they're really going, then sail for home."

A great cheer rang out as Elodie's command made its way around the surviving ships of the Novan fleet. 

"Long live the Queen! Long live the Queen!"

Briony climbed down from the crow's nest and scrambled over to Elodie's side, then kissed her. 

"I thought you were dead!"

Elodie managed to touch Briony's face before her arm fell back to her side. "I've got too much to live for!"

The coronation two weeks later was one of the grandest that Nova had seen since the days of the old empire, and was followed by a much quieter ceremony where the Duchess and Selene married and then formally adopted Briony. Briony's family did not object, but instead squabbled over who would be heir in her place. 

Elodie, finally seated on her throne, looked around at her loving family, her loyal advisers and her own Briony by her side, and considered herself the most fortunate Queen in the world.


End file.
